In Security and Exchange Commission filings posted to its website Thursday, May 3, WWE says it entered into a transaction with McMahon's Alpha Entertainment LLC back on April 3. Under this agreement, WWE granted Alpha Entertainment, the XFL's operating company, use of the league's name and pre-existing trademarks.

"Alpha has announced that it expects that this launch will occur in early 2020. Under these agreements, WWE received, among other things, a minority equity interest in Alpha without payment by, or other financial obligation on the part of , WWE," the WWE's SEC filing reads.

I'm not sure this means anything other than Alpha Entertainment wanted to use the XFL name and logo but couldn't as it was owned by WWE. They also applied for trademarks as URFL and UrFL but must have decided (and VInce alluded to this in the press conference) that XFL was a better name.

It was believed that XFL and WWE would run separate for the most part but Allen Johnson, Executive Director of Orlando's venues, confirmed to the Sentinel that John Saboor, WWE's Senior Vice President of Special Events, was the one that recently reached out about an XFL team in Orlando.

"We were told that there is preliminary, high-level interest in Orlando and they would get back to us at a later date," Johnson said. "They did mention in the call that they were aware of the other league (the Alliance) and felt that the Orlando market could support two teams."

That would be a survey that Alpha Entertainment, the XFL’s parent company, sent out, and which Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer got ahold of. Meltzer summarized its content in the latest latest issue for subscribers:

*As promised, there are various ideas to speed up the game, which include no kickoffs, no timeouts, a 20-second play clock, the game clock only stopping for a change of possession, and fewer flags. One potential tagline for the league listed in the survey was “warp-speed football reinvented,” which at least makes more sense than the line about “padded roulette” from the XFL rap that played before McMahon’s announcement on January 25.

*No more facemasks on helmets, an innovation that the league’s brass believes will make tackles safer. McMahon, it happens, is also famously averse to masked wrestlers because he believes it’s harder to show emotion or build a connection with audiences when your face is covered. It’s not at all a stretch to see this as part of a McMahon plan to help fans relate to players.

*New, allegedly safer helmets. As noted many times over the years both here at Deadspin and elsewhere, the state of the art anti-concussion helmet business is, if we’re being generous, not exactly what helmet manufacturers make it out to be. If you’re feeling less generous, it’s more or less a grift.

*As in the original XFL, there will be no extra point kicks, only plays similar to the two-point conversion. The original XFL used a traditional two-point conversion for the extra point, but allowed a two-point conversion from the five-yard line and a three-point conversion from the ten.

*Cash prizes for fans who most accurately call the same plays as the players in an XFL app during games.

*Team fan clubs that get a special section at the home stadium, can vote on jersey designs and team awards, and have access to pre/post-game meet and greet events.

Posted on 05/20/2018 by user
This is the XFL Show Episode 16: Gettin’ the Scoop

This week our guest is the journalist who broke the news of the XFL’s impending return a full month before Vince McMahon’s press conference. His name is Brad Shepard and he gives us insight into what it has been like for members of the media as they try to extract any kind of information from the league as they are keeping us fans in the dark regarding the reformation of the the XFL. It’s an tremendous conversation about the XFL’s relationship (or lack-thereof) with the media and fans that you cannot afford to miss! We also dip our toe into the survey that leaked about potential innovations we could see in the new XFL and talk AAF news.

With market research in hand, no one may be in a better position to answer this question than the XFL, as this would really be uncharted territory. We have seen leagues try to move a sport forward with innovation, but we have never seen one try to roll back a technology that has become such a fundamental part of the game. Regardless of the direction the XFL decides to go, it would be fascinating to learn what they have found.